Shock tower crack

berns68 · January 3, 2016, 7:06pm

So the other day I took the cover off my 68 and opened the hood to just do a little detailing while enjoying a cigar in the garage. That is when I noticed this crack on my P/S shock tower that wasn’t there during most of 2015. It must have developed very late last year.

So I have several questions regarding repairing it:

Can it be welded so that it’s progression will stop?
What in the way of electrical should I disconnect or remove to prevent future gremlins or is it OK to weld?
Any preferred method of welding?
Should I lift the front end before any welding?
I have a good neighbor who is a pretty competent welder or should this be done by someone familiar with
our cars?
Thanks in advance for any advice/answers provided. I guess after 48 years this was to be expected.

Midlife · January 4, 2016, 1:32am

Always disconnect the battery before welding. Protect any glass that may come in contact with welding splatter or grinding debris.

Drill a 1/8" hole at both ends of the crack to keep it from propagating. Then, you’ll need to remove paint along the crack before welding. Best practices would be to cut a small “V” groove along the crack prior to welding. Make sure you have good penetration to the other side.

thunderchero · January 4, 2016, 2:40am

for repair all very good advise/must do, but if metal is fatigued tower should be replaced. Would a 68 mustang replacement shock tower fit?

catlover · January 4, 2016, 1:56pm

Yes, The mustang is the same.

berns68 · January 4, 2016, 2:58pm

Replacing the tower(s) would be ideal but a task I’m not quite ready to take on. I know from this forum and the other that the 67-68’s suffered from this. I will proceed with welding first but being winter I’ll not know the result or success of the repair until the spring or summer after I’ve driven my car for awhile. I was hoping to hear from those that have done this repair and how it turned out over time. I appreciate the responses so far.

over50 · January 4, 2016, 4:09pm

Do you have a solid one piece heavy duty shock tower brace to the firewall and a front of engine cross brace. If not, weld repair and adding these braces should prevent future problems.

berns68 · January 4, 2016, 4:28pm

One of the very first upgrades I did in 2011 when I purchased my car was to install the 1 piece export brace. A front engine brace I don’t believe will fit on a factory A/C car.

Thank you for responding.

BossElim69 · January 4, 2016, 4:33pm

You might want to peel some of the paint off as a lot of times more cracks are revealed. If you just have one or two cracks welding it up as other advised will work just fine. You might want to consider adding a better Export brace to keep the top of the towers from moving. If you find multiple cracks you need to either replace the tower or add the repair kit. http://www.mustangsunlimited.com/itemdy01.asp?T1=PM6770+01&Category=Body&subCategory=Shock+Tower+%26+Related&SubSubCategory=Shock+Towers&CatKey=EMUSTANG

WCCC and other also have the bracket that welds in on top of the frame rail below the upper control arms that will really add some strength as well. Reinforcement Plates - Shock Tower - Weld In - PAIR - New ~ 1967 - 1970 Mercury Cougar / 1967 - 1970 Ford Mustang ( 1967 Mercury Cougar, 1968 Mercury Cougar, 1969 Mercury Cougar, 1970 Mercury Cougar, 1967 Ford Mustang, 1968 Ford Mustang, 1969 Ford Mustang, 1970 Ford Mustang ) at West Coast Classic Cougar :: The Definitive 1967 - 1973 Mercury Cougar Parts Source

I basically copied the repair kit and made my own for the road race Cougar. I didn’t have cracks in the towers, but just wanted to stiffen them up for the severe duty they were going to get.